Pathways to universal basic income: the case for a universal basic opportunity fund

The RSA put forward a proposition of the creation of a Universal Basic Opportunity Fund as a way to address the problem of economic insecurity.

In the UK, millions of people circle in and out of poverty; are exposed to insecure forms of work; and rely on a welfare system which can seem more intent on punishing than helping. Meanwhile, productivity growth in the UK has been anaemic for more than a decade. The current model of political economy is not working. New and practical thinking is desperately needed.

This report is the third in an RSA series aiming to highlight economic insecurity as a central problem of our time. The first, Addressing Economic Security, offers a new way to think about insecurity, defining it as both an economic and psychological state influenced by a range of interrelated factors beyond merely employment status. This approach questions a notion that has underpinned public policy for a quarter of a century, namely that there is a cast-iron equation between having a job and economic security. The second report, Thriving, Striving, or Just About Surviving?, used this approach to conduct extensive segmentation analysis to reveal the high numbers of British workers in economically insecure situations. It showed that 30 percent of workers face chronic or acute precariousness with 40 percent facing uncertain futures.

This report considers a potential way of addressing the problem of economic insecurity.